Because he’d promised as much. And he wasn’t anywhere near her. He was—dear God—on the other side of the room. But she didn’t speak—or move. Just watched, in total sensual thrill, as he stripped off his shirt and let it fall. She let her eyes roam, hungrily absorbing the width of his shoulders, the brown hair-roughened skin. The heavy silence in the room was broken only by the faint crackle of the wood he’d kindled in the hearth behind her, and by the harsh throb of her own breath. But maybe she was the only one who could hear it. Maybe—just maybe—his heart was hammering too. She saw his hands move to the zip of his jeans. She said swiftly, huskily, ‘No—please.’ He paused as if turned to stone, the turquoise eyes sending her a challenge across the infinity of space that divided them. He said, ‘No?’ Hands trembling, she pulled off her sweater, dragging the mass of clammy wool over her head as if she could not wait another minute to be free. A second later her bra joined it on the floor.
